Sunday, February 16, 2020
Navy seeks to cut 40 Billion Dollars in 6 weeks...the budget trainwreck is here...
via Forbes.
The trainwreck is here folks. They can try and put lipstick on this pig but the fact remains that its finally time to pay for the foolishness of the past two decades.
This won't be pretty. It won't be pleasant and no one is going to like it.
But there is a silver lining. If they can SOMEHOW do it right then it'll be of benefit to the entire US govt.
Waste, fraud and abuse is rampant.
There are savings to be found.
Additionally if the US Navy/Marine Corps can take this kind of hit then certainly the other departments in the govt can do the same.
That's potentially good news if the President (of whatever party) actually holds feet to the fire.
One other thing. With cuts of this type the military will have to start saying no. No we can't be in forever war. No we can't have bases in every freaking nation on the planet. No we can't be a piggy bank for whatever domestic program you want funded.
Much danger and much opportunity here.
The Department of the Navy is preparing to announce a crash program to find “at least $40B in real line-of-accounting savings” over the next six weeks. This lighting-fast cost-cutting initiative, called a “Stem-to-Stern Capability Strategic Review”, will begin on February 18 and end on Tuesday, March 31.Here.
The trainwreck is here folks. They can try and put lipstick on this pig but the fact remains that its finally time to pay for the foolishness of the past two decades.
This won't be pretty. It won't be pleasant and no one is going to like it.
But there is a silver lining. If they can SOMEHOW do it right then it'll be of benefit to the entire US govt.
Waste, fraud and abuse is rampant.
There are savings to be found.
Additionally if the US Navy/Marine Corps can take this kind of hit then certainly the other departments in the govt can do the same.
That's potentially good news if the President (of whatever party) actually holds feet to the fire.
One other thing. With cuts of this type the military will have to start saying no. No we can't be in forever war. No we can't have bases in every freaking nation on the planet. No we can't be a piggy bank for whatever domestic program you want funded.
Much danger and much opportunity here.
Its finally being said out loud. IMF head says that the Coronavirus could damage global growth...
The coronavirus epidemic could damage global economic growth this year, the IMF head said Sunday, but a sharp and rapid economic rebound could follow https://t.co/d9K228ERkh— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 16, 2020
Turks are threatening the Russian Ambassador...
via Sputnik.
Earlier this week, the ambassador revealed that the recent rise in tensions between Moscow and Ankara over Russian support for Syria in Idlib had led to threats being made against his life, recalling that the last crisis in relations between the two countries led to the assassination of his predecessor by a Turkish radical.Wow.
Russian Ambassador to Turkey Alexei Yerkhov has expanded on his earlier comments about the threats he and embassy staff have had to deal with in recent days, stressing that while he does not take them to heart, they’re unacceptable because he is a representative of Russia.
“As far as the threats are concerned, we’ve discussed them at length, and even publicized the most odious ones. Among the last which we’ve received last night and this morning are comments such as ‘We’ll build skyscrapers out of the skulls of your army’, and ‘You’ll pay the price for every drop of blood you shed’, and so on,” Yerkhov said, speaking to Zvezda on Sunday.
The ambassador noted that he could not help but treat this subject with the utmost seriousness, since it’s not simply a matter of threats against himself.
“Someone may say that this is a case of people letting off some steam and moving on, someone else may say this is democratic. It’s hard to disagree with these viewpoints. But at the same time such actions are unacceptable, because we’re not talking about the embassy or the ambassador, but about Russia and all of its representatives,” Yerkhov stressed.
When it comes to threats the highlighted one is pretty inventive. Wonder when Russian gloves come off when it comes to Turkey?
Syrian Army has captured Aleppo...
Battle of #Aleppo city ends in Syrian Army victory after 7+ years of fighting https://t.co/x5KPUQBiY8 #Syria— Al-Masdar News (@TheArabSource) February 16, 2020
BMP turned VBIED in Syria...
Поставил жирную точку pic.twitter.com/0WxOGzuSq1— Денис Дионисов (@DenisDionisov) February 16, 2020
What a waste of an armored vehicle. AI would be ideal for outpost defense. The problem is that to get the most out of the system you'd have to remove the man from the loop. Could we design a friend or foe system capable enough to kill the bad guys and keep from raining 50 caliber rounds on the good when returning from patrol?
Saudi Tornado shot down over Yemen...
Thanks to Αλεξικέραυνος Αλεξικέραυνος for the link!
Yeah.
This thing has been allowed to morph into something nasty. Remember a bit ago when our MH-60 was downed off the coast? Then we saw ships hit at sea. Anti-tank missiles being lobbied at anything with wheels or tracks...and we can't forget the fact that major Saudi cities have been hit with ballistic missiles.
We've been in a regional war for at least a couple of years now and its intensity has been amping up with little notice.
Do the Saudis have an exit plan or are they stuck like we are in Afghanistan?
Footage released by @almasirah showing the moment the Saudi Panavia Tornado was shot down over Yemen last night. pic.twitter.com/QOssmN0TDn— Aldin 🇧🇦 (@aldin_ww) February 15, 2020
Yeah.
This thing has been allowed to morph into something nasty. Remember a bit ago when our MH-60 was downed off the coast? Then we saw ships hit at sea. Anti-tank missiles being lobbied at anything with wheels or tracks...and we can't forget the fact that major Saudi cities have been hit with ballistic missiles.
We've been in a regional war for at least a couple of years now and its intensity has been amping up with little notice.
Do the Saudis have an exit plan or are they stuck like we are in Afghanistan?
Things are getting sporting in China...could a virus bring about the fall of this govt?
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for tighter policing to protect social stability, while Beijing ordered people returning to the capital to self-quarantine for 14 days in the latest measure aimed at containing the virus https://t.co/6NYpEVWur2 pic.twitter.com/fmG1MuT5lN— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 15, 2020
#UPDATE More than 68,000 people have now been infected in China from a virus that emerged in central Hubei province in December before spreading across the country and some two dozen countrieshttps://t.co/6NYpEWe5PC pic.twitter.com/UNMp41e3At— AFP news agency (@AFP) February 16, 2020
Have we reached a point where we should all be asking if this virus could cause the fall of this govt?
I'm not so sure we AREN'T there!
We've seen the explosion in cases. We know that production/exports are taking a HUGE hit. We've seen corporations warning that profits will be down because of production delays in China. We have no idea what is happening with the social fabric of the country but we've seen anecdotal evidence that its at least under strain if not unraveling.
The bad thing for the Chinese? Very few remember the "hard" times that they've suffered. For many of the young and or especially hardcore all they know is of the seemingly unstoppable rise.
What would a blow of this type do to the psyche of those people?
I have no idea but I think its a question that policy makers that have a much better view of this thing probably should be asking.
Northern Fleet's 200th Arctic Motorized Rifle Brigade on exercise....
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The MTLB is old as dirt but I always thought it was an extremely functional vehicle. Have the Russians been smart with updates or is it basically the old stuff inside the same wrapper?
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Jesus! This Coronavirus must be worse than we thought...China is getting extreme...
China is Killing more then 10 million Animals as precautionary measures to stop spread of #Coronavirus by burning them alive or burying them in pits.— Wuhan CoronaVirus (@coronavirusInd) February 16, 2020
I HATE #China.
pic.twitter.com/vvyqfnt5WP
Burying animals alive? That is brutal as fuck! This thing must be much worse than anyone is being told (meaning the general public).
Yeah.
This is a defining moment for China.
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